Rose McGowan to plead not guilty

Rose McGowan will plead "not guilty" in her felony drug possession case after she handed herself in to police this week.

The 44-year-old actress turned herself into police in Loudoun County, Virginia, on Tuesday in response to a felony warrant that was issued back in February when police discovered traces of narcotics in belongings she left behind on a flight arriving from Los Angeles at Washington Dulles International Airport on January 20.

And now, the former 'Charmed' star - who was later released on $5,000 bail - insists that despite handing herself in, she intends to prove she is innocent when the case goes to court.

She said: "I will clearly plead not guilty."

Last month, Rose tweeted her concerns that the warrant was fake, and believed it was issued on behalf of disgraced producer Harvey Weinstein as an attempt to discredit her after she accused him of raping her in 1997.

She wrote at the time: "Are they trying to silence me? There is a warrant out for my arrest in Virginia. What a load of HORSES** T. (sic)"

Rose has now admitted that after the warrant was issued earlier this year, she had every intention of turning herself in as soon as possible, but her concerns led her to hire a private investigator.

She said: "I was going to A.S.A.P, but then things started to get really weird. I knew I was being followed and that I wasn't safe. I even hired a private investigator to investigate whether the warrant was real."

The 'Planet Terror' actress stands by her plea, and believes the narcotics - which were identified as cocaine and were found in her wallet - could have been planted by someone else as she lost her wallet on the flight.

She said: "I had it in the side pocket of my backpack, and I left it on my seat as I went to the bathroom."

After disembarking, Rose noticed her wallet was missing, and proceeded to file a lost-luggage claim to help recover the lost item.

Her attorney, Jim Hundley, told The New Yorker magazine: "Depending on when and where the wallet was lost, individuals other than Ms. McGowan had access to the wallet for somewhere between approximately 5 hours 40 minutes and more than 11 hours."